Health mission Health mission
Promotion of the book „Individual Smoking Cessation Program“, by the author Ika Pešić, PhD, Head of the Department for Smoking Prevention and Cessation from the Clinic for Pulmonology of the Clinical Centre of Serbia will be held on March 29, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. in the Centre for Cultural Decontamination, Birčaninova 21, Belgrade.
The program is prepared for physicians and other health care workers in health institutions in Serbia with main objective to increase the knowledge of smoking cessation methods in order to enhance professional assistance to smokers in Serbia, which is the legal obligation of the health services.
According to the World Health Organization, smoking cessation represents one of six measures that contribute to successful control of tobacco use. This measure significantly decreases the epidemic of morbidity and dying caused by tobacco use.
The Counselling department for smoking prevention and cessation has been established 28 years ago at the Clinic for Pulmonology of the Clinical Centre of Serbia. It uses an individual approach with smokers. Its professional team introduces new methods and working technics in smoking cessation and modern equipment through the professional education and training in the country and abroad, as well as via own experience in working with smokers. The approach in smoking cessation has been adapted to our cultural environment and people’s attitude. Successfulness in smoking cessation constantly increases during the previous years, so at the beginning 20-30% smokers permanently quitted, while nowadays that percentage is above 60.
During these 28-year practice the Counselling department has treated tens of thousands of smokers using individual program. More than 20,000 examinations by pulmonologists have been performed and more than 2,300 assessments were done by other specialists, mostly cardiologists and othorhinolaryngologists. Among smokers who attended smoking cessation program more than 50% have already had established diagnoses of respiratory or cardiovascular diseases. Clinical examinations performed before the start of the smoking cessation among smokers without symptoms and diagnosed illnesses discovered 38 cases of lung cancer (unfortunately, only in 5 cancer cases were found in the initial phase), 7 cases of the carcinoma of larynx and 43 cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Professional team of the Counselling department provides support to other health institutions in Serbia in education of their employees as well as in opening their own counselling services.
Book reviewers, representatives of the Ministry of Health and Clinical Centre of Serbia, and the author will speak about this new book during the promotion session. Patients will share their own experience with the individual cessation program. At the end of the program Ana Ćetković will read her own poems which draw attention to the problem of smoking cigarettes.
